


The Cat's Cradle

by hktk



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Character Death, Gambling, M/M, Murder, Mystery, Psychological Drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:54:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27079912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hktk/pseuds/hktk
Summary: Kaoru Hakaze is sure that this is the worst time of his life. Forced to gamble (he's not even good at gambling) with his own life and the lives of friends, who will come out on top?
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	1. To the Nines

**Author's Note:**

> It seems I can only write death games. Well then! Back at it with an Enstars AU. 
> 
> I've made a [cover here](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkizJe2XIAE16S3?format=jpg&name=large) for it, and I also have a [playlist that you can listen to](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6IkItxC76E03kyfjGtJXCS?si=sXXXcqMvRnGF15lv4rZMpA) while you read along! How fun! 
> 
> I've never written Kaoru with such depth before so I think it will be fun. 
> 
> As a note, unlike my previous games, this one isn't interactive. However, besides a few scenes, most of everything will be decided by our good friends at random.org. It'll be a fun process to try I think! Also, this was heavily inspired by Kakegurui, and most gambles will be taken from the show or the manga, though some may be edited slightly. 
> 
> Anyway, good luck to your faves!

He wakes with dirt in his eyes. His wrists hurt, he realizes, as if he had been tied up. Had he? He’s not anymore, so it’s not as if it matters. He presses against the cold floor, realizing that it’s less like dirt, which he had initially thought for some reason, and more like marble. It’s shiny, bright under the lights that shine down against him, pressing heat wave upon heat wave against his back. He wipes his cheek, dried blood flaking down onto the cool, white marble tile, and he blinks. 

Is that his? 

He sits up all the way, pushing his hair from his eyes using the ball of his hand. Wiping his hands on his pants now, he takes a look around. 

There are a few other people sitting up right about now, and a few more still lying on the ground. What’s going on? he thinks, but he can’t figure out what’s happening. The last thing he remembers is being in the Rhythm Link meeting room, about to leave after having putzed around for a good hour or so after a failed audition. No, now he’s in this strange,  _ marble-floored _ room with nothing in it but other people and himself. 

That’s a lie, because as soon as he thinks it, he turns his head and sees a table. Nothing else. Just a square table and four chairs. He thinks to go investigate it, but he doesn’t, instead looking back around to the people surrounding him. 

Of the people sitting up, he recognizes all of them—they’re all idols of Ensemble Square, just like him. Most of them went to Yumenosaki, too, though there’s a few he knows didn’t, such as that Tatsumi Kazehaya. For a while, no one dares to speak, and that’s okay. He’s too terrified to speak, and he assumes most others are, too. What will happen if any words are said in this strange, strange room with nothing in it but other people, himself, and a table? What will happen if any sound echoes across the marble floor? 

Kaoru Hakaze has a bad feeling about all of this. 

“What’s going on?” 

Finally, after quite some time, someone speaks. Kaoru looks over at the owner of the voice—Hinata Aoi. Ah, jeez, Rei’s precious children were dragged into this? Yuuta is sitting up next to Hinata, rubbing his wrists just like Kaoru had thought to do earlier. Yuuta looks around, his eyes wide, and moves closer to his older brother. Kaoru sighs, then puts on as best of a smile as he could for the twins. 

“Hey, hey. C’mon,” he says. “Let’s smile, smile... I’m sure everything will be alright. Right?” 

“Are you certain about that?” Kaoru recognizes that voice as Eichi Tenshouin, and turning his head towards the sound, a little closer than Hinata and Yuuta, he confirms it. “We’ve been kidnapped.” 

“K-Kidnapped?” Oh, it’s that Mayoi Ayase, of ALKALOID. “Hyeee—that can’t be something that’s happening, right?!” He looks towards Tatsumi, who doesn’t do anything but rub his leg a little, sighing as well. 

“What else would it be? Grouped up like this, our backs and legs hurting as if we’ve been ‘thrown to the wolves’ in a literal sense...” Madara Mikejima says, with a strange smile on his face. His eyes betray him, though—he knows they’re all in deep shit, just like Kaoru knows. “You better watch out. They’ll be coming for us at any moment.” 

“M-Mikejima-san, come on now...” Chiaki Morisawa reprimands him. Madara laughs, waving a hand. 

But it’s strange that even Chiaki’s heroism hasn’t kicked in yet. He’s still scared, still wondering what’s going on, rubbing his wrists as if they’ve really been broken. 

Kaoru absentmindedly rubs his own wrists in return, looking down to his lap. He fails to notice the bracelet on his wrist, not having been there before, because he’s too worried about smiling. Even he can’t smile for long in this situation, no matter how he wants to. The dread in the pit of his stomach only increases with each voice that resounds in his ear. Wataru calling for Eichi, Sora and Natsume, Rinne making a loud fuss and pounding his feet around while Hiiro tries to calm him down, HiMERU and Niki trying to do the same... So many people. He counts at least fifteen voices, including his own. 

Eventually, Chiaki stands up, clapping his hands together several times. 

“Let’s look for a way out, everyone! Fuahaha! I’m sure we can find a door or other sort of—” 

A door  _ does _ open, and out steps someone Kaoru wasn’t expecting. Chiaki jumps at the sudden noise, clearly on edge, and pulls away from the door, coming to stand next to where Kaoru is still seated. He made an ungodly noise, one that will not be written down in these records for his own sake. Kaoru glances at him—Chiaki is sweating  _ bullets _ , rightfully so—but before Kaoru can ask him if he’s alright, the man who stepped through the door and shut it so calmly speaks. 

“Welcome,” says Yuzuru Fushimi, “to a game of Cat’s Cradle.” 

There’s a pause, before Kaoru opens his stupid mouth. “Cat’s Cradle?” he says, in English, just as Yuzuru had said the phrase. It’s foreign to him—he knows what each word means individually, and what it could mean when put together. After all, a cat could have a cradle,  _ right _ ? 

Before Kaoru can contemplate further, Yuzuru puts a hand on his chest, with his other hand folded behind his back, and bows slightly. “You may know it as  _ ayatori _ . Though, we are going to play the western version—a version that depends on trust between others, a version that can go on and on and on, forever and ever...” 

“So, you truly have kidnapped uS,” Natsume says nonchalantly. It’s kind of spooky—but the way he holds Sora so caringly disagrees with his voice. “And to play a game of strING?” 

Yuzuru remains as calm as ever. “A game of string, no. Games of trust and chance, yes.” 

“What is it you really mean?! Spit it out!” Rinne is on his way over to Yuzuu, stomping on the ground like a big oaf again. Before he can make contact, Hiiro throws his entire body around Rinne, pulling him back as if he were a giant dog. A wolf, more like it. Kaoru shakes his head, glad that he doesn’t see any other UNDEAD members in this audience for once. 

“I meant what I said, and I said what I meant,” Yuzuru answers, cryptic. 

It’s Eichi’s turn to stand now, and although he doesn’t make his way over to the butler, he asks a very loaded question: “Where’s Tori?” 

Yuzuru shakes his head. 

Eichi doesn’t relent, though. “Where  _ is _ he? Is he here, too? Or is he safe? Yuzuru, what are you doing? Why have you brought us here?” 

“Tori will not be partaking in the following events.” 

“ _ Following events _ ? Hoho, what  _ is _ it that you will have us do, hmm~?” Wataru lilts. Though he’s very sing-song as usual, it’s obvious he’s nervous, just like everyone else. 

Yuzuru bows again, courteous as always. Kaoru rolls his eyes. “If you would please follow me,” Yuzuru instructs, before daintily opening the door again and passing through it. Everyone looks at one another—no one wants to be the first one to go through that door. Who knows what could happen, in all honesty?

Chiaki, however, puffs his chest out. “... Everyone, get behind me! I’ll protect you!” As he approaches the doorway, seeing how it’s dark and dreary, he falters, but he turns back to the room. “Let’s find a way out, alright? Please, put yourselves in my hands!” 

No one budges an inch. Chiaki looks as if he might cry, actually, especially as he glances over his shoulder and into the dark hallway again. Kaoru sighs, finally pushing himself to his feet and approaching Chiaki. 

“You heard the man, right?” he says tiredly. “Let’s get to the bottom of this.” 

Kaoru places a hand on Chiaki’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. Chiaki swallows thickly, glancing to the hand, then to the hallway, then to Kaoru. “H-Hakaze...” 

“Let’s go,  _ hero _ . You’ll protect me, right? Go ahead.” He motions for Chiaki to go first—despite Kaoru having the ability to go on ahead, Chiaki needs to go first in order to prove himself, or something like that. It’s whatever. “I’ll be close behind, so go ahead.” 

With a renowned fervor, Chiaki nods. “Fuhaha! Of course, of course! Let’s go, Hakaze, everyone else! Follow meee...” He turns around, pulling away from Kaoru’s grip, and heads into the hallway. Kaoru takes a glance back at everyone, just a quick one, and follows soon after. 

Chiaki feels his way through the hall, eventually going down stairs very carefully, Kaoru falling into step close behind. Kaoru can hear a few steps behind him, but he’s not sure who they belong to. It doesn’t matter, for soon they all emerge in a larger room, one that’s set up much like a living room from a standard, modern home. In fact, it sort of reminds Kaoru how the office is set up at ES. Was Anzu in charge of decorating? No, come on. She’d never do something like this. 

Chiaki makes his way over to the sofa, where Yuzuru is standing. Yuzuru motions for them to sit down. Chiaki doesn’t, but Kaoru does, his legs tired already. Everything about him is tired, actually. How long was he out? 

Yuzuru has a clipboard in his hands now, holding it to attention. He glances down at it. “When I say your name, please say ‘here’, ‘present’, or something along either of those lines.” 

“Is this a fuckin’ joke to ya? A class?” Rinne spits. “We in class?” He glances around, but no one says anything else. He collapses in a reclining chair, leaning his elbows on his knees. Hiiro stands close by, while the Aoi twins come to stand next to Kaoru. 

“Natsume Sakasaki,” Yuzuru begins. 

Sora looks up at Natsume, who smiles down at him. He looks back to Yuzuru. “Can any of us say we are really preseNT, at any given tiME?” 

Yuzuru marks something down on the clipboard and proceeds. “Tatsumi Kazehaya.” 

“... Here.” Tatsumi’s taken a seat a little further away from Kaoru on the sofa. He’s a quiet sort of fellow right now, but who wouldn’t be? They’re all sort of quiet, actually. 

“Kaoru Hakaze.” 

Kaoru blinks himself out of his thoughts, looking up at Yuzuru. “... Yeah, I’m here.” 

“And Hinata Aoi.”

“... Um, here!” 

Yuzuru nods. “Very good. You will be staying on Floor Three.” 

“Floor Three?” Kaoru raises a brow. “There’s multiple floors?” 

With that comes a flurry of questions from others. 

“What’s going on, really?” asks HiMERU. 

“What’s going on? Why are you here? Why are  _ we _ here?” asks Niki. 

“Sora’s scared, even though Master~ is here, so please let Sora and Master~ leave, okay? And everyone else, too!” 

“What the hell did you do to Leo-san?” 

That question is a bit different from the other few people that raised their voices. Everyone turns to the door they came from, that led up the stairs into the room they started in. Madara’s standing at the door, holding Leo Tsukinaga in his arms, bridal-style. “If you did any funny business to him, I swear...” 

Yuzuru doesn’t react much, simply tilting his head. “I did nothing other than bring him here.” 

Leo being here would make sixteen, wouldn’t it? Since he’s asleep... Kaoru hadn’t heard his voice. 

“Then why won’t he wake up?” Madara demands, taking a few more steps into the room. He sets Leo on another recliner that’s on the other side of the sofa, closer to Tatsumi, pulling the lever so that it actually reclines and Leo is more or less lying down. “Leo-saaan. Leo-san. Wake up, wake up!” he says, trying to shake him awake. Leo mumbles something in his sleep, signaling that he’s not  _ dead _ , which Kaoru was very thankful of, but he doesn’t actually wake up. 

Yuzuru shakes his head. “That, I do not know. Please excuse me.” There’s a pause. “Hm... This is unforeseen. Well, until he wakes up, he will not partake in any Gambles.”

Kaoru’s head snaps back to Yuzuru, torn away from Leo. “Gambles? We’re  _ gambling _ ?” 

“Big Bro, this wasn’t your idea, was it?” Hiiro says. “ _ Was it _ ?” 

Rinne waves a hand. “Nah, nah. This ain’t my style, see?  _ Kidnapping _ ,” he says harshly, in Yuzuru’s direction, “that is.” 

Everyone quiets. 

Yuzuru taps the clipboard. “Let’s return to the roll call. Rinne Amagi.” 

“Here, guess so.” 

“HiMERU.” 

“HiMERU is here.” He holds his arms with his hands, frowning, looking off in some far off place. 

“Eichi Tenshouin.” 

It takes a moment for Eichi, who has seated himself on a sofa across from Kaoru, to answer. “... Present.” 

“And Madara Mikejima.” 

“Are you implying that Eichi-san and I are to be in the same room?” 

“In short, no,” says Yuzuru, beginning to explain. “There are four floors for ‘housing’, so to speak. Four people per floor.” Kaoru’s count was correct, then—sixteen of them, including himself. “There are individual bedrooms on each floor that only you—and one other guest, if you permit them—can access. There is also a common room and a shared bathroom and shower. Please make use of it as you will. You four will be placed on Floor Four.” Yuzuru smiles curtly and continues once no one else speaks again. “Now... if I am not interrupted again, I believe we may be able to finish this roll call... Wataru Hibiki.”

Wataru bows, with a flourish. “Present~!” 

“Hiiro Amagi.” 

Hiiro pauses before he nods. “Here.” 

“Ah, then there’s Leo Tsukinaga, who is present but asleep. Then Niki Shiina.” 

Niki looks around, rubbing his arms. “Yeah, I’m here. But it’s so cold in here, isn’t it? Where’s the kitchen?” 

“The kitchen is to your left,” Yuzuru motions, “relatively speaking.” Niki looks as if he’ll run right off. “Ah, but don’t go yet. I have important information to relay first... You four will be on Floor Five. Now, for the final floor, Floor Six... First up is Mayoi Ayase.” 

Mayoi is silent, like most others when their name was called. Tatsumi shakes his arm gently, and Mayoi jumps, shaking his head. “... I-I... I’m here, yes.” 

“Then, Yuuta Aoi.” 

Yuuta looks to his brother before nodding at Yuzuru. “Present.” 

“Sora Harukawa.” 

Similar to the Aoi twins, Sora looks at Natsume before nodding, cheeks puffed out. “Sora is here and wants to know what’s going on!” 

Yuzuru seemingly ignores him, marking something on the clipboard. “Finally, our hero, Chiaki Morisawa.” 

“Hero?” Chiaki blinks, then he puffs his chest out, laughing loudly. His voice is louder than usual, as if he’s overcompensating. Kaoru winces. “Of course, fuhaha! A hero that will protect everyone and all! Ryusei Red, at your service!” 

Yuzuru writes something on the clipboard and nods, then turns the page. “Very well. All are present. Now we can proceed with the important information before I let you all go for the day.” 

“Important information... All present... Fine, fine,” Kaoru sighs, hiking his ankle onto his knee and crossing his legs. “Are you finally gonna tell us why you brought us here?” 

Yuzuru bows. “Of course, Hakaze-sama.” Yuzuru presses something—something on his wrist. It begs Kaoru to finally notice the same bracelet on his own wrist, but a large screen slides down out of the wall, unrolling as it falls. Once Yuzuru flattens the screen that hangs, he presses another button on the bracelet, and a projector on the other side of the wall lights up. He removes a pointer from his pocket, elongates it, and points to the screen, where “The Cat’s Cradle” shows up in what can only be Yuzuru’s handwriting. 

“I have prepared this slideshow for you. Please be patient, as it may take some time,” he begins. He presses a button again, and the slide changes to a layout of the room they are currently in, presumably. 

“First, this is Floor One. The common room is here,” he points with the pointer, “where we are. You are here,” he reiterates. “To the right is a rec room, filled with all sorts of games that will take your mind off of the Gambles. The kitchen, fully stocked and always so, is here, to the left of this screen, along with the dining room slightly south of it. It has sixteen seats, enough for everyone.” 

“Where will you be eating?” asks Eichi. “Will you not be eating with us, Yuzuru?” 

Yuzuru shakes his head. “Please, no interruptions—but no, Eichi-sama, I will not be eating with you.” The slide changes. “Each Housing floor has the same layout—and they are located on Floors Three through Six. As I mentioned, there is a common area, located in the center,” he circles with the pointer, “then a bath and shower to the left of where this screen would be. To center-right and far right are four rooms, where you will be staying for the duration of your Play.

“On Floor Seven is a stage area, where you can put on all sorts of performances and concerts if you wish to perform one last time.” 

Kaoru’s ears perk. “One last time?” 

When the slide changes to a description of Floor Eight, or at least, where it would be, it reads nothing but ‘UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS PROHIBITED’ in bright white letters on a black background. Kaoru realizes that everything is practically inverted at this point—where it usually would be a white background, the slideshow has had a black background with whites and reds only. 

“As you can guess, Floor Eight is prohibited from access without my permission. This is where I will be staying and eating, and the like. If you attempt to get in, you will be shot by machine guns placed in the walls, so please, for your safety and the sake of others, do not try.” 

“Machine guns?” Hinata whispers. “Did he say machine guns?” 

Yuuta swallows as he nods at his brother. Then he presses a finger to his lips in order to shush him, and Kaoru is curious as to what Yuzuru is talking about, too. 

“What about Floor Two, hm?” Rinne asks. “There’s gotta be a Floor Two, but ya skipped right o’er it!” 

Yuzuru nods. “Of course.” The slide changes to a floor labeled ‘BASEMENT - FLOOR 0’. “The Basement houses an inground pool. To the left of where this screen would be are the changing rooms. In each of your rooms you have been provided with bathing suits, if you so wish to use them. You’ve also been provided with several changes of clothes, I might add.” 

The slide changes again, finally landing on Floor Two. It’s just a black screen, outlined by a white border in a rectangular fashion. There’s a smaller rectangle to the left. “Floor Two is the Gambling Area. This is where the Gambles will take place, without fail. Any Gamble not done within the confines of the Gambling Area on Floor Two will be rendered null and will not count.

“To the left of where this screen would be are the ‘Gates of Hell.” 

“Gates of Hell, hmmm?” Madara muses, still worriedly fussing over Leo. “Are you planning to  _ kill _ us, Yuzuru-san?” 

Yuzuru pauses. “... We’ll get to that,” he says, with an eerily calm smile. “First, let us go over the general rules. Though there are individual rules for each Gamble, these rules apply whether you are in a Gamble or not—that is to say, they apply whenever and wherever you are, for your duration of stay in the Cat’s Cradle.” 

The slide on the screen changes once more. It reads: ‘1. EVERYONE HAS 9 LIVES.’ Short and sweet, Kaoru thinks, but he hopes that Yuzuru will explain in more detail. 

And Yuzuru does. “Everyone begins with 9 Chips, called Lives. Once the Life count reaches 0, the individual in question will be forced through the ‘Gates of Hell’. However...” The screen changes to read: ‘1=A. GUARDIAN ANGEL CLAUSE’ and Yuzuru continues: “Only once during your time here may you invoke this Clause. If someone in a Gamble drops to 0 Lives, you may offer up all of your Lives for them to bet and they must bet  _ all in _ . If they turn the tides and win the overall Gamble— _ not _ the subsequent round—you both win. Hurray. If they proceed to lose even  _ your  _ Lives... well, you both lose. It’s a Gamble within a Gamble.” 

He moves to change the slide, but before he does, he remembers something. “Ah, I should note: Only  _ Observers _ , which you will soon be aware of, can invoke this clause. If you are part of a Gamble, you cannot use this Clause, no matter how much you want to.” 

The slide changes and now reads: ‘2. CHIPS = LIVES = BRACELET.’

The room is creepily quiet as Yuzuru continues his explanations. “While you will be given physical chips to represent your Lives in a Gamble, you have on you a bracelet that will otherwise keep track of them, as well as your body temperature and heart rate.” Kaoru finally notices the bracelet on his wrist, as does literally everyone else, finding it out of place—Kaoru tugs on his, but there’s absolutely no break in the loop, and he can’t pull it off whatsoever. “This is also what allows you to enter your rooms on your respective floors, by scanning it on a pad next to the doorknob.” 

‘2=A. VIOLENCE = DEATH.’

“Within the bracelets is also a deadly neurotoxin. Should you step out of line, it will be administered immediately. Only I, Yuzuru, have the antidote.” 

A few people seem to be more adamant in trying to take the bracelet off now, such as Hinata. “I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna diiiie~ This isn’t funny at all! Take it off,  _ now _ , Fushimi-senpai!” 

“Why are you even doing this? You still haven’t answered that. What’s all this about  _ Gambles _ , and all’a that?” Kaoru deadpans. Chiaki, standing next to him, nods fervently. 

“Yes! I agree! What is the meaning of this? Answer for your crimes, villain! Er... It’s weird to say that against you, but if you really are serious...!” 

“I am not a villain,” Yuzuru claims. “Rather... I am an arbiter, a judge. Someone who is to remain neutral in all aspects.” 

Rinne jumps to his feet. “How’re ya gonna be talkin’ shit ‘bout bein’  _ neutral _ when ya got us all locked up in here in the first place? Ain’t that the opposite of neutral?” He stomps over to Yuzuru, grabbing the pointer from Yuzuru’s hand and snapping it in half. Yuzuru takes a step back, sighing. 

“I didn’t think I’d have to  _ actually  _ use this, but you’ve pushed my hand. Please accept my deepest apologies.” 

There’s a tense pause as Yuzuru goes to press a button on the side of his bracelet, then hovers his hand over the front of the bracelet—which is more like a  _ smart watch _ than anything, the same as Kaoru’s. Kaoru moves to get up to his feet, but before he can— 

“W-Wait! Please excuse my brother!” Hiiro yells, running forward and pulling the elder Amagi away from Yuzuru. Hiiro gets on his hands and knees, shaking. “P-Please do not kill him. Please!” He bows deeply. 

“Oi, lil’ bro, get up! This ain’t no time for beggin’! This is a time for action!” 

Hiiro adamantly shakes his head. “No, it’s not! It’s a time to listen, Big Brother! It’s not a time of action, for once! Please, listen to what he has to say, and then we can act! So, please, spare my brother, alright?! Please!” 

Yuzuru lowers his hand, sighing. “Very well. But please, do go sit down. I want no more interruptions to this display. Please, stand up. There will be enough begging later on, I presume.” 

“ _ Begging later on _ ?! Are you seriously messing with us?” Niki gasps. He’s standing up now, making his way to Hiiro and Rinne. Once he gets there, he pulls on Rinne’s sleeve, as Hiiro stands up and pulls on Rinne’s other sleeve. “If you are... I’m hungry right now, so I really would eat you! I would!” 

“If you have the conviction to resort to  _ cannibalism _ , then please do so. I will be impressed,” says Madara, half joking. Or is he half serious? Regardless, the tone of his voice sends a shiver up Kaoru’s spine. 

“M-Mikejima-san, don’t encourage cannibalism!” Chiaki shouts. Rinne growls something sinister at Yuzuru, who remains unfazed, but is pulled away successfully by Niki and Hiiro. 

“Can everyone shut up?” Kaoru yells back. “Can we go back to the, like, presentation or something? I feel like we’re not getting the full picture here!” 

“Hakaze is right!” Chiaki agrees, nodding. Madara side-eyes them both, then looks back to Leo. “We should listen to whatever Fushimi has to say first before jumping to conclus—” 

“Jumping to conclusions? Chiaki, have you gone mad? He’s going to kill us! Have you been listening? This isn’t  _ my _ Yuzuru!” The bracelet on Eichi’s wrist begins to beep—steadily... then it calms down, quieting until it can’t even be heard any longer.

“Oho, Eichi, do calm down... Was that your heart rate?” asks Wataru, with a worried tone.

Yuzuru nods. “It was. Please, Eichi-sama, for the sake of your health, listen to Morisawa-sama and Hakaze-sama. I will proceed now. Apologies for any prior delays, deeply so.” As if prepared for anything, he pulls another pointer out of his pocket and elongates it, and proceeds to the next slide. 

The slide has a roulette wheel on it, with ‘3. ROULETTE DECISIONS’ above it. The wheel does not move, and on each section are nonsense words, such as ‘declare’, ‘project’, ‘pass’, ‘sermon’, and so on. 

“Gamble choices will be randomized with a Roulette,” Yuzuru explains. “Once a Gamble has been decided by the Roulette, it is impossible to choose another or spin the Roulette again.”

The next slide comes without interruption. ‘4. ONE LIFE BEGINNINGS’.

“All bets begin at one Life, though it may be Raised at any time during the betting session. Each betting session may occur more than once during a Gamble.” 

‘5. LIFE ISN’T FAIR’.

“You may not Fold nor withdraw your participation, depending on the Gamble. You must work with the hand you have been dealt. Life isn’t kind, so neither will I be.” 

“This has to be a game show of sorts,” says Tatsumi. “One that I haven’t consented to. Please, dear God, who art in Heaven...” He rambles on, quieter, as he prays. Mayoi sits next to him, wrapping an arm around him hesitantly, as if he didn’t know if he would be allowed to do so or not; Tatsumi lets him, however. 

Yuzuru ignores them both. ‘6. LEARN TO WATCH’. 

“All those not participating in the Gamble must become Observers and watch via the screen on Floor 1.” Yuzuru pokes the screen, making it shake, as if to prove a point. “Note that those who are participating in a Gamble cannot hear you, but you can hear them as an Observer.” 

‘7. PEOPLE DIE WHEN THEY ARE KILLED’. A rather long title, Kaoru thinks.

“No deaths outside of the Gambles are allowed. Punishment will be hefty for those who murder. If you commit suicide, everyone else will die.” 

‘8. IT’S HIGH NOON’. 

“Gambles will be held every two days, at 12:00. There is no set end time to Gambles. Gambles will go until at least one person is devoid of Lives. However, seeing as it is past noon,” Kaoru looks at the smart watch bracelet on his own wrist, reading a time of 16:37 on the upper part of the screen, “the first Gamble will begin tomorrow. You are free to do with your free time until then, and in between Gambles, as you wish.” 

‘9. JUDGE = JURY’. 

“I, Yuzuru, have the last say in all matters and disputes. Any new rules may be added at any time.”

Yuzuru closes the pointer, putting it back into his pocket. 

“What’s the point to all of thIS? Is there oNE?” Natsume, who had been mostly silent up until now, says. “Or are you simply yanking our chAINS, as one of your nature is wont to dO?” 

Yuzuru shakes his head. “No. There is a point, but you will find out later. Or you will not. Regardless, you are here to play in Gambles.” 

“What will these  _ Gambles _ be?” HiMERU asks quietly. He’s still got his arms folded over his chest. 

“There are a myriad of games you can play. For instance, the first game will be a game of  _ War _ —that much I can reveal.” 

“Is that really considered  _ gambling _ if it’s a boardgame?” says Kaoru snidely.

“All will be explained shortly. I will reveal the four participants tomorrow, at eleven in the morning.” He bows, and after pressing a button on his watch, the screen slides up into the ceiling once again. “You may freely explore.” His eyes glint, and he presses a hand to his chest, bowing one more time. “Please, have fun, and sleep well tonight.” 

He ascends the stairs to the left of the door that they came through, and he disappears from view. 

There’s a weighted pause, before Madara finally leaves Leo’s side, coming to stand in front of Kaoru. He pulls at Kaoru by his collar, with one hand, with a force that was like several hands. 

“Do you have the full picture nooow, Kaoru-saaan?” 


	2. Head Full of Shadows

One would think that it would be tremendously hard to stay idle in a situation such as this, and they would be correct. Kaoru seems to be doing  _ just _ an alright job at doing just that, currently, though he’s frustrated, of course, so he’s tapping his foot repeatedly against the floor as he waits for literally anything else to happen. Hell, he would have even taken Madara punching him in the guts because then that would have given him an excuse to think about pretty much just about anything else besides  _ gambling for your lives _ or some such. 

“Do you have the full picture nooow, Kaoru-saaan?” Madara spat in his face, the other’s carefully constructed composure cracking just a little bit as Kaoru grabbed at his wrists in order to try and pry him off. 

Kaoru was, by no means, a weak person, but he certainly didn’t feel like fighting at the very moment. Everyone was confused, including both him  _ and _ Madara, so he couldn’t rightly blame the guy for acting this way. He just had never seen him in such a heated manner—though he supposed that was what he got for always trying to see the bright side to him. 

“Woah, just take it easy, man,” he said, kind of stupidly he realized in retrospect, his grip on his wrists tightening a little bit more. He was completely sick of this situation already. He started his day off (if it was the same day, even; he couldn’t tell, for as far as he knew, there were no windows on the two floors they had been on so far—the only indication was the clock that ticked steadily on where the screen had been) with a failed audition that he had  _ completely  _ and utterly and incomprehensibly, honest to God, botched to hell and back, and now there was  _ this _ . Whatever  _ this _ exactly was, he was still unsure. 

“Mikejima-san, let go of him!” Chiaki interjected, though he was careful not to touch either of them. 

The rest of the room watched with bated breath, wondering what Madara would do. Chiaki fretted, though he stood his ground, standing close but still not exactly touching, reaching out with one hand on Kaoru’s shoulder, lightly, after a second. 

Jeez, he had so many guys touching him lately. This was getting to be a little too  _ hands-on _ for him. 

“Mikejima-san, remember the rules, alright?” Chiaki tried. “Until we can find out more information, we should refrain from violence. I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

For the first time since he grabbed Kaoru, Madara broke eye contact, his gaze flicking down to Chiaki, who looked up at him with the sternest gaze that Kaoru had seen lately. There was no hint of the smiley (albeit obviously fake) Ryusei Red from before—only someone begging his friend—no, his idol, was it?—to stand down in a dangerous situation. 

“I don’t want you to hurt Hakaze, either,” Chiaki continued. “He hasn’t done anything wrong... so c’mon. We’re all on edge, alright?” 

Madara’s eyes slid back to meet Kaoru’s, and he slowly, slowly, released him; once Kaoru was fully on the floor again, Madara patted the collar of his shirt, giving off a guffaw of a laugh. 

“Ha ha ha! Of course, of course, how silly of meee!” he exclaimed, though there was definitely something decidedly  _ off _ about the laugh, about the words, about the tone in which he said them. 

Kaoru waited until Madara pulled away, then puffed up his chest when the other had his back turned. Stupid fake cowboy, he thought. At least Chiaki was thinking of him, too, and not just the well-being of Madara, who was back to Leo’s side, kneeling down, taking the other’s hand in his own—a much gentler touch than what Kaoru had had to go through just then. 

“... well, what do we do now?” whispered Yuuta. 

Natsume smiled. “How about we explORE?” 

Honestly, Kaoru’s thinking of it anyway. He’s thinking of the fact that Madara didn’t punch him in the guts, and that’s got to be a good thing, right? Nothing bad has really happened so far, except for the fact that Rinne and some others haven’t come back with any good news about a door in or out of this place yet. 

Just like the fancy slideshow that Yuzuru had prepared, the walls of this place are pitch black. They’re so black that Kaoru thinks it should be illegal to own this specific color of black. The light that lit up the entire room—a rather robust chandelier—gives off a slightly purplish glow, painting everything sort of ethereally. The furniture is white and purple, as if the interior decorator was going for a theme here. 

He’s trying to think of who would have such a taste. He can’t think of anyone except for one person, who Kaoru had full faith would not pull a “prank” like this. Moreover, there was just too much technology involved that Rei can’t possibly be in charge of this whole operation. Well, no, maybe that was the keyword—“in charge of”. 

Kaoru shakes his head, looking up at the chandelier. It sears into his brain, the shape, the brightness, the colors, and all of those things—as well as the thoughts from before—mix together, proving to be an effective stopping point for that sort of train of thought. 

The couch he’s once again sitting on dips low next to him, and his body weight shifts as someone sits down with him. Close, too. Kaoru blinks, looking over at the same time, the bright light taking a moment to fade from his line of vision so he could properly see who it is that interrupted the thoughtless process of forgetting your own thoughts and feelings. 

The person speaks before the light clears up entirely. 

“Sorry about Mikejima-san,” Chiaki says plainly, wringing his hands in front of him. He’s not looking at Kaoru. “He’s always been headstrong like that... Like a bull, almost.” 

“Like you?” Kaoru blinks one more time to fully clear his sight. 

“W-What? I’m—” 

“You are.” And Kaoru, for the first time since he’s been here, laughs quietly. It’s a genuine sort of laugh, too, which is even more rare for this certain occasion. “Whatever, though. He’s not your responsibility, so don’t go apologizing for a brute like him.” 

“He’s not a...” Chiaki sighs, shaking his head. He claps his cheeks a few times—perhaps a little too roughly, as they redden a little after he puts his hands back in his lap. Just as sternly as he looked at Madara before, he now looks at Kaoru. “Hakaze, what do you think this game is? Not the game we’ll be playing tomorrow, or something, supposedly...” 

“You mean, like, the overall game?” 

Chiaki nods. “Of course! Why are we here? What is Fushimi doing?” He assumes a thinking pose, with his hand on his chin. “Do you think he was telling the truth about the machine guns?” 

“Only one way t’find out, I’d say, yeah?” 

Kaoru looks away from Chiaki. Rinne and his posse of people that had gone to check for a way out have returned, and he drops onto the chair he had been sitting in before he left. Hiiro and HiMERU, two of the ones that had gone with him, stand behind the chair. Hiiro looks completely dismayed, even as Rinne grabs the lever of the chair and kicks his feet up without a care in the world. 

Chiaki’s face drops momentarily, before he puts on an eager smile, easily assuming the best—or at least faking it pretty readily. “Did you guys find anything?” 

Rinne props his arms behind his head, jutting his lips out as he shrugs and whistles. “Nada. Not a thing.” 

“We checked every nook and cranny we could find,” Hiiro asserts, explaining more than his brother ever could, Kaoru thinks. “This place is sealed shut. It’s almost as if it was built around us as we were sleeping.” 

“Like a cardboard box, or a tent, or something?” Kaoru tries. Those really aren’t good examples, but he’s trying to think of better ones. He opens his mouth to clarify that the cardboard box is meant to be placed on top of them, but he shuts it again, thinking it’s stupid to do that. 

“That’s stupid,” Eichi confirms from across the room, emerging from the kitchen. His arms are crossed in front of his chest, even as he glides across the floor and sits down on the sofa opposite of Chiaki’s and Kaoru’s. 

“Thanks,” Kaoru sighs. 

“Well, it’s true, sorry.” Eichi frowns. “Anyway, even if you didn’t find an exit, there’s something you must have found, right? Even after you left Shiina-kun behind in the kitchen, right?” 

“That was the first place we looked, at his insistence,” HiMERU explains. “HiMERU is certain that you can guess why. Is he still cooking, in there, HiMERU wonders.” 

“He is. Wataru is helping,” Eichi replies. “Will you answer my question, though?” 

A few others that had been idling around in this common room move closer, their ears perking, such as the Aoi twins and those members of Switch. After the little scuffle, if it could even be called that, Madara had taken Leo (who still hadn’t woken up) to his room, while Tatsumi and Mayoi had retired to Tatsumi’s room in order to rest early due to pain, or something. Kaoru honestly hadn’t been paying that much attention to what the others were doing. 

“Let’s start with what you found in the kitchEN,” Natsume suggests, crossing his arms and smiling gently.

“Jack shit,” Rinne snorts. “I said that already, didn’t I?” 

“Well,  _ yes _ , but that’s not exactly what I  _ meant _ , and you know it.” Eichi’s frown deepens. “I already know, but let everyone else know, too. It’s a good idea, Sakasaki-kun.” 

“We found that the kitchen is fully stocked...” Hiiro says. “From spices in the cupboard to all sorts of things in the fridge.” 

“Out captor seems to have even taken HiMERU’s tastes into account, so HiMERU can only assume it is the same for everyone else.” 

Hiiro pauses before continuing. “There’s kitchen utensils, knives, things like that... A toaster, oven... Everything standard a high-class kitchen might have. Everything looks really expensive... Stuff I have only ever dreamed of having.”

HiMERU nods. “Yes, it is quite expensive-looking... Well, Fushimi-san is a member of Shiina’s group, so it is no wonder, HiMERU thinks, yes?” 

Sora puffs his cheeks out, as if wanting to say something at the mention of Yuzuru, but Natsume quiets him down by placing a finger on his lips in a shushing motion. Sora nods, looking at Hinata and Yuuta, who have moved closer to the Switch pair by now. Familiarity, perhaps, Kaoru thinks. 

“No sorta way out, though. Even the sockets that the toaster’s plugged into is wholly sealed off,” Rinne says, leaning his head back. “The cabinets’re flush with the floor, and the fridge’s been bolted into place. No way of movin’ that sorta stuff. I even tried.” 

“Bolted down?” Chiaki echoes, assuming his thinking pose again. 

“I didn’t know those things,” Eichi admits. “I suppose I didn’t look closely enough at the floor, but I wasn’t looking in particular.” 

“The dining area is the same way, as well. The chairs are not bolted, but the table is,” Hiiro adds. 

“Now thEN,” Natsume proceeds after a moment, “what room did you go to nEXT? I’m afraid I had more important matters to attend tO, so I did not pay attention to where the wind blEW.” 

Rinne snorts. “Important matters?” 

Natsume does not say anything, but he smiles. 

“Um, regardless,” Hiiro says after a tense moment, “we investigated this area soon after the kitchen. Like the fridge and other appliances, the sofa and chairs seem to be bolted down, too.” 

Everyone in the room looks down at the same time, almost. Kaoru leans forward a bit to get a better look, and he catches metal glinting in the low light beneath the sofa he’s sitting on. He sighs. 

“What’s the reason for everything being bolted down?” Chiaki wonders aloud. “Even things away from the walls... It’s not just for hiding something like a secret compartment or door, is it?” 

“Secret doors can be on the floor, too!” Sora says, a little too eager. “But... Sora thinks going down from here would just lead to the basement, wouldn’t it?” He tilts his head. 

Yuuta shakes his own. “Well, not necessarily, right? If there’s a secret floor, maybe it leads to that, and that’s the actual ground floor, or real Floor One.” 

“After all, what other reason would whoever put us here have to bolt down a recliner, of all things?” Hinata says. “There has to be something underneath...” 

“Ah!” Kaoru stands. “Does anyone have a flashlight? We can check to see if there’s a door right now. Phones work, too.” He pats his pockets, even the small change pocket inside of the larger pocket, but he finds nothing. How did he not notice this sooner? He curses beneath his breath, groaning and sitting back down like a dumbass. 

“No, no flashlights,” HiMERU confirms what Kaoru’s next thought was. “Whoever has brought us here wants to keep us fully in the ‘dark’, physically or otherwise.” 

“The elevator, too—there’s not even a greyed out button for the floor, like there is for the floor we are not supposed to go on,” Hiiro points out. “For the hidden floor, I mean.” 

“W-Well, that’s just dandy,” Kaoru huffs. Rinne huffs, too. 

Natsume nods, as if knowing something everyone else doesn’t. Kaoru had thought him pretty smart up until this point, but he’s not fully catching on. Is he acting, or what? Maybe he’s going through the motions just like Kaoru is, so he’s taking his time in speaking, unlike Kaoru.

“Anything else of this room to note?” Eichi persists, finally speaking up again and breaking the short silence. He looks tired and pale, as if a mildly strong gust of wind would blow him away. Perhaps he should be glad there aren’t any windows in this room after all. 

What follows is more silence, though. Hiiro fidgets. Kaoru’s really never paid attention much to the boy, but he used to be smiley and stupid or something or other, right? Kinda like Chiaki, almost. Now they were both acting like the situation really was so dire that neither could smile. 

“Smile, smile,” he mutters. Eichi and Rinne give him a look.

“Hakaze is right,” Chiaki insists, puffing out his chest. “Fuhaha! Let’s all smile and put our heads together!” Ah, there’s the Chiaki that Kaoru knows. “That was a great idea, Yuuta-kun, Hinata-kun! If you keep that up, we’ll all get out of here safe and sound! I’ll help, too!” 

“What’s with all’a the fake enthusiasm, huh?” Rinne says matter-of-factly, but Chiaki pretends he doesn’t even hear it—or at least, it doesn’t affect him. “Whatever. We’ll get outta here. I’ll kick that guy’s ass next time I see him, swear it.” 

“Fushimi’s? Please don’t!” Chiaki finally reacts. 

“Yes, Big Brother! Don’t do that! We don’t know if he’s really dangerous!” 

“... Yuzuru’s background is a complicated one,” Eichi points out. “If he wants to be dangerous, he can very well do so. That much I know.” 

“What is it you know?” Kaoru demands. “If you think he’s really capable of doing something, then we gotta know.” 

“Yeah, spit it out?” Rinne joins in. 

Eichi shakes his head after a moment, looking away. “It’s not my story to tell. Just know that if he puts his mind to it, Yuzuru can do all sorts of things.” Resolved, he looks back to the group. “So, for that reason, I do think that for now, we should do what he says. Which includes not starting an altercation with him at all costs.” 

“He mentioned machine guns, too,” Yuuta says knowingly.

“It’s not just his fists,” says Hinata. 

“Yeah, yeah!” says Sora. “Sora knows that he was being extremely serious... Sora thinks it’s hard to read his color, but it was a bright crimson, with other colors mixed in... It’s different than his usual color!” 

HiMERU quirks a brow. “Color?” 

“SORA is a special child,” says Natsume proudly. “He is full of magic that no one else that I know hAS. He can read people’s moODS, possibly their motIVES, from a color that only he can sEE, just by hearing them spEAK.” 

Sora nods. “Master~ said it right! Sora can do just that!” He looks down, a little disappointed looking. “But Sora is overwhelmed right now, so it’s hard for Sora to pick out colors Sora isn’t very familiar with.” 

“You should go rest then!” Hinata chides. Yuuta nods, and both of the twins surround Sora on either side. 

“Sora’s fine!” Sora insists. “Sora wants to hear what other people found, even if Sora has to close his eyes!” 

Natsume nods. “Let us procEED, thEN. What is it that you found nEXT?” 

“The room with recreational activities,” continues Hiiro a bit nervously after a brief respite, “is a bit different. While the furniture is bolted down, some things aren’t... the cabinets are not, for instance, that house the various board games within.” 

“Also, those... what were they called, Amagi?” HiMERU looks down at the reclined elder brother, who looks up at him. 

“What? The pinball machines?” 

“Yes, those. Those were not bolted down. HiMERU checked, himself.” 

“There’s pinball machines here?” Kaoru furrows his brow. “Why?”

“Why go through all the trouble?” questions Eichi. “Not just those, but anything at all. The kitchen, the games, the private rooms...” 

“Someone who did this must have a lot of funds, or borrowed a lot of money from someone... Um, sorry to ask, but... Tenshouin, you don’t know anything about this, right?” Chiaki asks. 

In the few seconds before Eichi answers, there’s a flurry of movement. The recliner that Rinne was in snaps back to a seating position, and he’s suddenly standing over where Eichi’s seated. He looks down at Eichi, attempting to be intimidating. Kaoru knows he wouldn’t want to be on the other end of that glare, at least. Not again, anyway. 

Chiaki’s to his feet, too, just in case. “Please don’t fight! We were discussing like the friends we are, right?” 

Hiiro grabs a hold of Rinne’s arm again. “Big Brother! You have to stop with this senseless violence! Please! VIolence is prohibited!” 

But Rinne shakes him off. “Listen here, bitch,” he says, pointedly still staring at Eichi, “if you know anythin’ about this, ya better come clean, and  _ quick _ , before my fist meets your face.” 

Kaoru shakes his head, and so does Eichi. Eichi’s response is quick-tongued. “Of course I don’t, you dolt. That’s not the Yuzuru I have come to love as a member of  _ fine _ , and nothing in this room was bought by the Tenshouin Conglomerate.  _ Nothing _ . I swear I am telling the truth.” 

Rinne narrows his eyes. He doesn’t seem convinced. 

“P-Please—” 

“Chiaki, it’s fine,” Eichi says lowly. Then, a little louder, “I swear that I know nothing. I am just as ‘in the dark’ as you all are. I just want to get out of here safe and sound, and get Yuzuru and Wataru out of here safe and sound as well, and find my beloved Tori safe and sound, as well.” 

Rinne narrows his eyes a little bit more. He backs off after a second, but he doesn’t go back to his chair. Instead, he stomps over to the kitchen, slamming the door shut. A squeal, presumably from Niki, can be heard, but silence befalls the group still within the common room. Hiiro goes to follow his brother after a second, but HiMERU stops him with a wave of a hand. Hiiro frowns, boring a hole into the kitchen door. 

Eichi releases a breath, exasperated with the situation at hand. Man, Kaoru, too. He would sigh as well, but he’s too busy just glancing between Chiaki and Eichi and then to everyone else. Eichi runs a hand through his hair, it falling neatly right back into place as it just was. Kaoru should ask him what his hair products are at a later date—no, wait, they’re probably expensive as all hell. It’s Eichi Tenshouin’s hair, after all. 

Chiaki takes a few steps back, then sits back down next to Kaoru, still just as close as he was before. 

Everyone is tense and on edge, Kaoru knows. It seems like everyone but him is out of their minds, though. Nothing bad is going to happen. All this talk about Yuzuru being dangerous... all this talk about machine guns and neurotoxins and gates to hell or whatever have you... It’s all just a bunch of talk and Kaoru is on Prank’d or something. There’s nothing like that. 

“Shall we procEED?” Natsume breaks the silence again. “Now that a nuisance has left for nOW, it is up to the remaining two to shed some light on what they had fOUND.” 

HiMERU nudges Hiiro, who jumps, blinks, then turns his attention back to the group before him. “Um, we went up to the bedrooms after that. Or the housing floors, that person had said, right?” 

“What about the second floor?” Chiaki asks curiously. 

HiMERU shakes his head. “We tried to go, but the option was greyed out... like that eighth floor. No matter how many times HiMERU pressed it, nothing happened.” 

“Right!” Hiiro nods. “So we went to every floor first... every floor seems to just be a carbon copy of one another. It’s kind of eerie... Upon closer inspection when we checked Floor Four for HiMERU’s room, we found that all the furniture was bolted down in exactly the same spot.” 

“Bolts again, huh...” Kaoru mumbles. 

“We can muse over their meaning later,” Eichi says. “Please go on.” 

“Um, then we tried to open other people’s doors... Big Brother’s, to be exact,” Hiiro continues. “He stood on the other side of the room, and we couldn’t get the door to open. When he opened it, we tried to enter, but... It’s a sliding door, you see, and it only stays open for a few seconds... He had to authorize one of us first, let us through, then authorize himself.” 

“Did you try to ‘authorize’ both of yourselves before he did himself?” Yuuta asks. Both he, his brother, and Sora have turned back to the group now. 

“Of course,” HiMERU confirms. “It only read an error and refused to open. There is no time, additionally, for both of us to get through in succession, either, on one scan.” 

Hiiro rubs his forehead, telling a story in just that small gesture. Kaoru nods knowingly. The little Amagi brother goes back to explaining, tapping his chin. Kaoru finds it kind of cute, actually. “Then we went to Floor Seven, the highest any of us can go to, it seems. It seemed to be just a normal auditorium, with a few rows of seats and a stage.” 

“There were no controls for the lights or the sound, besides a small dimmer for the former,” HiMERU adds. “HiMERU thinks we are supposed to just use our own voices in order to get a song across.” 

“Hmm...” Chiaki thinks for a moment. He frowns. “... Just like Tenshouin said, why go through all the trouble?” 

Kaoru shrugs. “... What do you mean?” 

Chiaki starts talking with his hands. “Like! There are a lot of things that suggest we should live our life happily here, even if we’re cut off from the outside world... but we’re supposed to do those ‘Gambles’ every two days, right? So what’s the point?” 

Natsume nods. “You are correct in your line of thinkING. There is no poINT, I suspECT,” he says, though. “It is good to question that sort of thING, thoUGH, because if we do nOT, we will fall suspect to their trAP... Perhaps everything being set up this way is to trick us into thinking that we are going to be safe hERE—that nothing bad will happen at ALL. Hakaze-SENPAI, do you agrEE?” 

Kaoru blinks, confused at being singled out. He even points at himself, to which Natsume nods again. “Why me?” 

“You seem to be quite nervOUS, though not in the same way that everyone else iS. Perhaps you know somethING.” 

“ _ Huh _ ? What? What are you on about? I don’t know anything. I can’t even remember how I passed out, right?” He rubs the back of his neck, sheepishly. “I was in the ES building, about to leave the office, when I just... I dunno. I woke up here. Everything is black in between...” 

“Wait.” Eichi sits up straight. “You were in the ES building?” 

Kaoru nods. “Yeah. I was. Why?” 

“Then it should be caught on video cameras. That we were taken... So someone will come for us, soon.” 

“There are high profile people here, of course,” Yuuta says. Hinata agrees with him with a mumble. “So when we don’t show up for practice the next day, or the next, or we don’t answer our phones... well, they’ll check the security footage, is what you’re thinking?” 

Eichi smiles, leaning back slightly in his seat. He relaxes a little. “Yes. That’s exactly what I think... They will come looking for me and for everyone else of  _ fine _ , as well as someone like Kazehaya-kun and HiMERU-kun. The rest of you, too, of course.” 

“If lots of people disappeared in one day, it would be suspicious right away,” mentions Hinata. “Do you think he spread out the kidnappings? Eek, we really were kidnapped, huh... Not to mention, I have that same black hole in my memory...” 

“Yeah, me, too,” says Yuuta. “I remember being on my way to practice late at night. The last time I saw Aniki was that morning... I think. You weren’t answering my messages or anything, but we had planned to meet up that night.” 

Hinata looks straight confused. “... I remember leaving you in the morning, though... and I woke up here. Nothing in between.” 

“Well, of course,” says HiMERU. “It is not as if the kidnapper can be at every place at once, yes?” 

Hinata and Yuuta, who both had started fussing, calm down a bit after a second or two of letting what HiMERU said sink in. 

“But it would still be the general timeframe, wouldn’t it?” Kaoru says. “Eh, how long were we all out for, then? There’s sixteen of us here...” 

“We can assume that chemical warfare was used in our acquisitION,” Natsume replies. “Depending on what sort of drugs were administERED, we could have been out for...” 

“Who knows how long?” Hiiro says. “I guess it does not matter anymore. At least, not right now. We are stuck here with no way out, and there’s more ‘chemical warfare’, or whatever it is you said, in these watches.” 

Hinata pales again. “Ah, that’s right! Get it off! I tried already, and it won’t come off, still!” 

“It won’t, probably... Please don’t hurt yourself!” Yuuta exclaims, grabbing his brother’s arms to try and get him to stop pulling at the strange bracelet. 

Kaoru looks down at his. His heart rate reads 84BPM, which is an interesting number, he thinks. He has nine Lives, and it says 20:21 on the clock function. Wait, really? Where’d the time go? He says that aloud, apparently, for that’s when Chiaki stands up. 

“Fuhaha! It’s late, it’s late! So we have to eat, yes, yes, to keep our bodies strong!” he shouts, and Kaoru winces, being so close. “Shiina and Hibiki have been cooking, haven’t they? Let’s go see if we can help!” 

“Oh, there’s no need~” Wataru sings, right next to him. Chiaki jumps eight feet in the air, yelping as if he saw a ghost. He might as well have, knowing how Wataru liked to act. He quickly regains his composure, shaking his head, hands on his hips and a big smile gracing his lips. 

“Please, tell any of us what you need us to do! We will all do our part to help repay you for a hearty meal!” 

Wataru waves a hand. “There’s no need, of course! Why, my compatriot of the kitchen has already finished setting the table with all the food we have made!” 

“Oh? Grand-Master~ made food?” Sora bounces in place, forgetting the entire situation at hand and looking up at Natsume. “Let’s go, Master~ Let’s go eat!” 

Natsume pats Sora’s head. “Of couRSE. Please go with your friENDS, for I have to check something fiRST.” 

Sora pouts. “Ehh? But Master~?” 

“Do not woRRY, I will be along soon enoUGH.” 

Sora’s pout doesn’t go away for a few more moments, but then he nods. “Of course, Master~ Sora will be waiting, okay? So hurry back, hurry, hurry! Come on, Hina-chan, Yuu-chan! Grand-Master~’s food is so good, so Sora thinks you’ll like it!” Sora grabs onto both Hinata and Yuuta’s hands, one of his in one of each of theirs, and he tugs them towards the dining area. Natsume watches them go before waltzing to the elevator, stepping in it. 

“Oi, where are you going?” Kaoru calls after him. Natsume simply smiles as the doors close. Kaoru sighs. Things just aren’t going his way today, or whatever day it was. The twins did make a solid point that he’s still mulling over, after all. 

By the time Kaoru looks back to the living room area, everyone but Chiaki and himself have skedaddled off to the dining room. Chiaki’s glancing at the stairs and the elevator, then back to the dining room’s open doorway. He looks down at Kaoru. 

“Should we take some up to Mikejima-san and the others?” 

“Eh?” Kaoru raises his brows.

“Mikejima-san... Ayase and such. They should eat, too. But what if they’re sleeping? Do you see my dilemma, Hakaze?” 

“They can eat in the morning, then,” Kaoru says, standing up and waving a hand. “Let’s just go eat for now.” 

The (rather late, admittedly, but everyone was out of their wits right now, Kaoru admits, and he can’t complain at free food either way) dinner went along without any problems. The dining room (and Kaoru would later find out the kitchen, as well) had the same exact color scheme as the living room area. The walls and ceiling were painted black, with a hypnotically purplish light in the center hanging daintily from the ceiling. Every other chair was white, and the ones in between were purple—the same  _ exact _ shade as the purple sofa and chair from the living area (Kaoru checked extensively). 

Whoever was doing this had a lot of time on their hands. They were planning this for a very, very long time, Kaoru was certain. They also had a very specific taste. 

Natsume had returned only around ten minutes after he had excused himself, and he declined to answer even Wataru when asked what he was doing. Whatever. Kaoru didn’t really care. He just wanted to go to bed, especially as he started to let his food digest... 

He yawns, checking the watch on his wrist. 23:41. It’s getting rather late, and in less than twelve hours, the participants of that first ‘Gamble’ are supposed to be announced, right? Kaoru really should get to bed, but this sofa is just so comfortable. He’s the only one in here, and there’s really nothing here  _ to _ do. 

He’s thought about checking out the recreation room, but the pinball machines would probably be too loud for everyone else sleeping, and he wasn’t about to wake everyone up. If they could even sleep. The only other things in there were things like board games and such, right? Maybe a puzzle or two, if he’s lucky, but he’s not in that mood, either...

He’s tapping his foot incessantly against the white, marble floor again. He realizes the marble is mixed with purple instead of black or grey, actually. That’s fancy. He’s been staring at it for a long time. He checks his watch again, and it’s 00:36 now. 

Damn, where does the time keep going today? He hoists himself to his feet, turns, and immediately runs into someone. The person makes an ungodly noise which will not be written down for his own sake, especially because Kaoru makes a similar noise. He reaches out to catch the other person, who grips Kaoru’s arms to steady himself. 

Chiaki blinks, their faces pretty close. Kaoru’s face darkens slightly from embarrassment, and they both pull away simultaneously. 

“... Whoops!” Chiaki’s right back to laughing, his chest heaving with the effort. A smile so big crosses his face. “Sorry, sorry, Hakaze! I came to check on you! Er, well... To see if you were still down here, really! Are you going to sleep? Were you sleeping down here? Did I wake you? Fuhaha, sorry again!” 

Kaoru sighs. “No, no. I was just going to check out the room and try to catch some shuteye, though, yeah...” He looks around. He’s alone, save for Chiaki, of course. “Why are you still awake, though?” 

“Oh! I said so already, didn’t I? I was down here to check on you!” 

“So you were waiting for me?” 

“... Not necessarily!” Chiaki grins at him. 

Kaoru pauses, then deems it not worth it to continue asking. He shakes his head, rubbing at his eyes with one hand. “Well, I’m leaving now, so let’s go, okay? You’re sleeping on a different floor than me, but we can ride the elevator until then, unless you want to take the stairs or something...” 

“The stairs only go from this floor to the second floor, and there’s a door preventing access to Floor Two, too! So the only option is the—eh, Hakaze, don’t let the door close on me!” 

After a few minutes of no activity, the chandelier turns off of its own accord, presumably on one of those timers. The stillness of the room is eerie, and if one were down here, they would feel the heaviness of the weight of the world on their shoulders. Perhaps that’s what Kaoru was musing about before he got in the elevator with Chiaki. That’s certainly what the person who inches the kitchen door shut so, so slowly is feeling, anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can once again talk to me on twitter: [hktk1059](https://twitter.com/hktk1059)!


	3. Sacrificial Lamb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: (SPOILERS!!!!) drowning

The lights dim, and suddenly he feels very, very awake. He looks to the chandelier, withered and broken, hanging from the ceiling but looking as if it’ll fall at any moment. He’s sitting on that sofa again, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to do  _ anything _ but just  _ sit _ there and stare at the chandelier. The light, the light, the light... 

He’s so transfixed. 

He looks around the room, his neck the only thing he has control over. One of the blackest black walls has caved in, and a dark liquid seeps out from beneath the rubble. He wrinkles his nose at the scent that wafts over to him, and the light flickers. 

He looks back up at it. When it comes back on, he sees movement across the room. Before he can pin down who it is, the light goes out again—and then, it’s on again, and he sees a large, intimidating figure in the distance. The room is so large, growing larger by the second. 

The light keeps flicking on and off, and he thinks he might be getting a headache from the constant on-and-off. But he’s not even looking at the light anymore; instead, he focuses on the figure—they inch closer and closer with every flick of the light, in the darkness, as if they were also transfixed by the light, as if they were also unable to move when it was on. But how come they can move in the dark, while his heart pumped louder and louder in his ears as they got closer? 

He feels like he’s playing some fucked up version of Daruma-San, waiting for the figure to approach so that he can recognize them. And once they do get close enough, their face is obscured by the dark, as if there was an invisible piece of paper in front of them, scratching over all of their most notable features. 

He notices the brownish-reddish hair, though, and the tan clothes are familiar. Abundant are the stains that dot those tan clothes, the same stench from underneath the rubble permeating the air, overwhelming as the figure came closer. They’re holding a bat, one that you play baseball with, and the lights extinguish for a long time. 

When the room is dimly lit back up, the figure stands imposingly over where he’s seated, bat raised. The bottom of the paper has been ripped off, showing a toothy grin that would scare even the happiest of children. 

They swing. 

_ Bang! Bang! Bang! _

Kaoru shoots up in bed, sweat drenching his very core. A hand flies to his forehead, pushing his hair from his face, and his chest heaves with such a great effort, as if someone had been lying on him and they’d only now gotten off. His eyes wide and wild, he glances around the room. 

Where is he? This room is so dark that he can’t even see his hand in front of his face. Reaching over to where his bedside table would be, Kaoru’s hand only meets a wall, and harshly so. “Ow, fuck. Okay, calm down. Fuck.” 

He reaches for the other side, grasping at empty air for a few moments with both of his hands before they finally land on a lamp. He follows its shape, then finds the switch beneath the lampshade, and he turns it on. It gives off a soft glow on this supposedly lowest setting, purple and pale. 

But at least he knows he’s not where he’s supposed to be right now. 

_ Bang! Bang! Bang! _

Kaoru jumps in his skin again, sweating so bad that he is sure the sheets are actually noticeably wet. Or they would be, if they weren’t a dark, dark purple, black in the dim light. He grips them, especially as someone continues to bang loudly on the door. It’s only when a voice finally seeps through the cracks in accompaniment to the banging that Kaoru eases up on the heaving of his breath. 

“Hakaze! Hakaze, wake up!” 

Kaoru looks at his watch. It’s 10:44 in the morning, according to this. He was out for at least a good nine or so hours, but he’s not exactly sure how long it took him to fall asleep in the first place. He watches as his heart rate drops steadily as he calms down more and more. The banging takes a break, but Chiaki shouts through the door now. 

“Hakaze, come on! There was an alarm—didn’t you hear?” 

Kaoru shakes his head, scared to speak. He’s so scared to speak that his heart rate spikes again. Lowering his arm onto the sheets, he stands up slowly, steadily. His legs feel like they’re made of jelly, and his chest grows tight. He holds onto the bed, leaning over it, for a good few minutes, until the banging starts up again. 

“Hakaz—” 

“I’m up! I’m up, alright?!” 

“Oh! Hahaha! Great, great! I was starting to get worried!” 

Kaoru throws on some pants (he still wore the same shirt he had been wearing all day yesterday, but he’s too frazzled to check on the contents of his closet like a normal person right now) and approaches the door. It takes him a moment to figure out which button opens it, and it slides, revealing a very happy, yet mildly concerned-looking, Chiaki. 

His hands on his hips, Chiaki doesn’t say anything, but he does look over Kaoru. The door slides shut as he opens his mouth, effectively muffling whatever he was going to say. Kaoru frowns and presses the button on the panel again, and it slides open once more. 

“Sorry, what was that?” 

The door slides shut again. Kaoru, growing slightly frustrated already, opens it one more time and brushes past Chiaki to step out of the room, barefoot. Not even wearing socks. The cool marble of the common room of his floor is prickly on his feet, not soothing at all as one might have thought it would have been. 

“Alright, well, what were you saying?” 

Chiaki laughs. “I was worried, since you overslept, I was saying.”

“Overslept? Right, what’s this about an alarm?” 

“There was an alarm that went off around nine.” Chiaki taps his watch, as if to demonstrate that that’s both where it came from as well as point out the time. “Didn’t you hear it?” 

Kaoru shakes his head. “No. I guess I was sleeping.” He looks around the room, empty as he thought it might be. All the other doors are closed, same as his. “How long have you been calling for me?” 

“Oh, not long at all! Maybe ten minutes or so,” Chiaki replies. “I never would have guessed you’d be such a heavy sleeper, Hakaze!” He laughs loudly, chest puffed. 

“Yeah, well, I never used to be,” Kaoru says. “What’s going on, though?”

“Well, Fushimi is going to announce who is taking part in the Gambles, so he has requested everyone’s attendance! You’re the very last one to wake up.” 

“Oh.” Kaoru rubs at his upper arm nervously. “That’s right, huh. Well, I’ll be down in a second, then.” 

Chiaki nods. “Yep! Do you want me to wait out here for you?” 

Kaoru waves a hand. “No, there’s no need. I’ll go finish getting ready and come down.” Without letting Chiaki say another word, he turns back to the door. How did he do this before? he thinks as he stares down at the panel. All it says is “AUTHORIZE PLEASE!” in cutesy, handwritten letters... 

Chiaki leans forward, laughing. “Hakaze, you just swipe your watch over it, kind of like a pass card!” 

“Right.” Kaoru does just that, the door sliding open. He steps through it quickly, and it slides shut a few moments later. 

Suddenly, he’s engulfed by the darkness again, the lamp on his table almost  _ pulsating _ the longer he looks at it. He shakes his head, clapping his hands on his cheeks once to pep himself up. Mumbling under his breath about this and that, he finds the socks he was wearing last night and puts them on as quickly as possible, nearly falling over in the process. He pulls his shirt off, then goes over to the lamp, trying to get it to turn on a little bit higher. He’s mildly successful. 

He opens the closet, where he supposes those changes of clothes Yuzuru mentioned yesterday were. He picks the first shirt he finds and throws it on.

Oh, he realizes as he stares down at it, it’s one of his unit’s concert t-shirts. Interesting. Just like the food in the kitchen, was everything except the interior decorating catered to their taste? 

He slips his shoes on, mostly because he doesn’t like the feeling of the marble that permeated every inch of this place on his feet even with socks on, and approaches the door. He presses a button, the door slides open, and out he steps. 

Chiaki’s gone, by now. Kaoru sighs, for some reason, because at least Chiaki listened for once, and then heads over to the elevator. He waits awkwardly for it to come, and even more awkwardly as it heads downstairs, inspecting his nails to pass some time and combing his hair with his fingers in the too-shiny walls. 

He looks like a mess. His eyes are bloodshot, and no matter how much he tries to get this one particular strand of hair to stay down, it won’t. He should’ve showered, but upon checking his watch, it’s 10:57, so there wouldn’t have been time for any of that. He’ll shower later, after this Gamble. 

Hopefully it isn’t him that makes it in. Maybe he’ll even shower during, then. 

The elevator doors open, and he steps out. Everyone, besides Leo by the looks of it, is gathered in the living area; Kaoru approaches them all, standing close to Chiaki. Yuzuru is positioned at the other end of the room, in front of the screen that’s been dropped down again.

Nothing but a bright white light, so, so different compared to all the other lights in this place, is being projected from the projector, so half of Yuzuru’s face is lit up, just above his eyes. He’s smiling, strangely enough, with both hands behind his back like a true butler would stand. 

“Excellent,” Yuzuru says plainly. “Now everyone, save for Tsukinaga-sama, is present. We may begin.” He steps a single step away from the screen, then several off to the side to reveal it in its entirety. Pulling out the pointer again, he presses something on his watch in order to begin another sort of slideshow. He looks at his watch, waits almost a minute, then clears his throat. 

“Now, as I said in the rules yesterday, the games will be decided by a roulette. However, the first game is an exception to this. It is a game of modified Casino War,” Yuzuru begins explaining. “It is a simple enough game for an introduction, for those of you who may be unfamiliar with card games and the like.” As he speaks, a cartoonish drawing of two heads butting show up on the screen. 

“Ah, so it’s not a board game...?” Kaoru wonders quietly. He had assumed wrong, then, but Yuzuru hadn’t thought to correct him yesterday. Did he change his plans, or did he just not want to correct him? Well, whatever. 

Yuzuru continues, “The participants will join me at ten to noon in the stairwell leading upstairs. There, I will unlock the door and allow us all in.” The slide changes to a picture of a door opening just slightly. “I will begin the instructions at exactly noon, but everyone must enter at the same time—so please, try not to be late.” 

Why does Kaoru feel like he’s being stared at by a few people? He rubs the back of his neck guiltily, looking away for a second until Yuzuru begins to speak again. 

“So we will not be going over the rules now?” asks HiMERU. 

Yuzuru shakes his head. “No. But those not participating will still be able to hear the rules as I explain them via the speakers in this room. Again, you can hear what goes on in the Gambling Area, but the Gambling Area cannot hear you.” 

The slideshow changes to a roulette wheel with all of their names on it. 

“Now, let us proceed.” Yuzuru smiles sort of wickedly, and the wheel begins to spin with a press of a button on his watch. 

Hiiro Amagi is the first one that it stops on. Everyone looks at him, almost expectantly, and he shakes his head. He’s one of the people taking this so seriously, so it’s interesting that he got plucked first. At least, it is in Kaoru’s opinion. 

“Me? I...” 

When Wataru Hibiki’s name is chosen, he does a little flourish and bows. “Wataru Hibiki, at your service~” 

“Why are you so excited to be chosen?” Eichi asks quietly, begging him to sit back down on the sofa. 

Hinata and Yuuta both pale when Sora Harukawa’s name is drawn. Sora tugs on Hinata’s sleeve, mumbling something like it’s going to be okay, and the brothers look as if they relax a little bit. It’s a wonder what that small kid can do to calm others. Though, Kaoru supposes, they are friends for a reason. 

Kaoru watches Sora mutter more things to both of the brothers, not paying attention to the final name drawn. It’s only when Chiaki nudges him that he looks up, and Yuzuru confirms as he did with the others aloud. 

“Kaoru Hakaze.” 

“Eh? Huh? What? Me?” Appalled, Kaoru shakes his head, similar to Hiiro.

Yuzuru bows. “I will see you all in approximately thirty-five minutes. Perhaps that will give some of you to comb your hair.” 

Once again, Kaoru feels as if he’s being stared at by plenty of people. He turns away, using both hands to comb through his hair again. He supposes he did do a pretty shit job of it in the elevator, so maybe he’ll go back up to his room in order to fix it a little bit better. 

As he goes to do just that, a hand falls on his shoulder, and he glances over it at the person who stopped him. Chiaki’s gaze is steel, yet there’s still a hint of that fire that’s always present nowadays. 

“Hakaze. I have a bad feeling about this.” 

“Yeah? I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Kaoru brushes his hand off, closing the gap between him and the elevator. “I’ll see you later.” 

The doors slide shut, letting him alone with his thoughts. Is he the only one not taking this so seriously? Nothing bad is going to happen. Sure, they’re all trapped here, with bolted down furniture, for the foreseeable future— _ but _ , and this is a very, very heavy but, there’s free food and free clothes and— 

“Will you be oKAY?” 

Kaoru jumps, stumbling back into one of the walls of the elevator. The doors slide open with a cute little  _ ding _ , but Kaoru doesn’t move, looking over at Natsume, who had apparently been riding with him this entire time. 

“Huh?” is all he manages to say. What can he say? He supposes he was lost in his thoughts this entire time, sure, but this dude is a little bit freaky, what with the way he narrows his eyes and curls his lips into a sure smile. 

“Of courSE, I think someone like you has the potential to win and get us all out of hERE.” 

“Woah, woah. Don’t put this all on me,” Kaoru snaps. “I’m looking to get out, sure, but...” 

Natsume steps out of the elevator before the doors can close again. “I’ll be watchING,” he says, disappearing from sight. Kaoru’s gaze follows after him, and then he realizes one crucial thing. 

That’s his floor, too!

Kaoru furiously presses the open-the-doors button, and thankfully, they do open. He exits, and Natsume is nowhere in sight. He must have gone to his room or something like that. It wasn’t like they could use the stairs—and why would he come up here just to go back down, anyway? 

Kaoru heads to his room, the door staying open for a few seconds as he slips inside.

The stairwell is dark. There are no lights lining the walls, so Kaoru just takes his time, going slow up the stairs. As he rounds the corner of a landing, he sees Yuzuru standing at the top of the next set of stairs, along with the other three that he’s supposed to be playing with today. Worriedly, he checks his watch, but there’s still seven minutes until noon, so it’s not like he’s  _ late _ -late, just the last one to arrive. Kaoru jogs down the rest of the hall. 

Yuzuru bows on the landing, then turns to the door. He swipes his watch over the display next to it, and it slides open easily enough. He turns back to the four of them, bowing once more, hand resting on his chest. “Please, enter.” 

The four of them share an uneasy glance, as there’s only darkness past the doorway, but Kaoru, reckless as always, brushes past the others and enters. He’s enveloped by the darkness, and he doesn’t see when the others follow him. In fact, he can’t even see his hand in front of him again. It’s always so eerily dark in this strange, strange house, he thinks. 

He  _ does _ hear the door slide shut, though, and for a moment, Kaoru is actually scared. For the first time since arriving here, as he stands in this creepy-ass darkness with nothing but his breath and the little floaty things in his vision as he tries to adjust to the total lack of light, he feels scared. His heart rate increases, heart thumping in his throat, choking him off. 

And then the lights turn on, and he’s blinded for a split second. 

After adjusting to the light, he looks around. The others do, too, Hiiro shielding his eyes from the purplish chandelier that hangs ominously from the ceiling, same as the floor below it, same as the housing floor, same as everything. 

A curved table with four seats on one side and several decks of cards comes into view. Yuzuru brushes past all four of them and takes his spot behind the table, on the opposite side of the chairs. He picks up a deck of cards, shuffling it. 

“Please, take a seat,” he instructs. 

Kaoru glances back at the others. Hinata looks a bit like he might pass out at any time, and Hiiro is almost as pale. This time, it’s Wataru who acts first, sitting down on the leftmost chair. Hiiro ventures forth, sitting on the rightmost. Kaoru sits on the one next to Wataru, and Sora finally takes a spot in between Kaoru and Hiiro. 

Once everyone is situated, Yuzuru bows, picking up another deck and beginning to shuffle that instead. “I will now begin to explain the rules for this Game of War. Please take care to pay attention to them carefully, as they will not be explained again. Let’s begin, everyone.

“First, everyone will be playing simultaneously against me, semi-individually. Everyone will place a bet at the beginning of the round, and your bets do not have to correspond to others’ bets. For instance,” he motions to Kaoru, who makes a face, “if Kaoru bets eight lives, Hiiro,” he motions to Hiiro now, who tenses up but seems to be paying attention raptly, “doesn’t have to bet that amount. He can bet whatever he wishes. However, while the minimum bet is one Life, the maximum bet is half of your current amount of Lives, rounded down—so to start, the maximum bet will be four. This may increase as the game goes on.

“The game will  _ only _ be played with the 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace cards, in that ascending order. Ace is highest, while 10 is lowest, for clarification.” 

Wataru hums. 

Kaoru makes another face. “Is there a specific reason?” 

“Please, no interruptions.” Yuzuru smiles. Kaoru frowns. “As I was saying, Ace will be the highest. Now, everyone will be dealt a card, including myself, face down. On the count of three, everyone will flip over their cards. If anyone’s cards are higher, they will win their bet back without any loss—so a winning bet of two will earn you four Lives total. However, if anyone’s cards are lower, they will lose their entire bet—a losing bet of two will lose you two Lives total. Does everything make sense so far? ... Now is the time for interruptions, if there are any.” 

Hiiro raises his hand, as if he were in class. A diligent boy, though a bit odd. He doesn’t wait to be called on, however, so can he really be as diligent as Kaoru thinks? “If we’re playing with so little cards... What happens if there’s a tie? Who wins, then?” 

“A perfect segue into the next segment,” Yuzuru says, clapping a hand upon the top of a deck of cards. These decks are pretty hefty, and there’s about four of them, presumably just in case? Either way, if they’re only filled with those five cards, it must have taken hours to sort them all from various full decks.

“This is a Game of War, after all. If there’s a tie and you have bet two or more Lives, you can choose to Go to War with me or Surrender to me. Surrendering is simple—you lose half of your original bet. However, if you choose to Go to War, you must double your original bet; we will play another round, just you and I.

“If you score higher, you win your original bet without any loss. If you score lower, you lose, and you lose your doubled bet rounded down. However, if there’s another tie... you win your doubled bet without any loss. So there’s a two-thirds chance of winning if you Go to War with me. Despite being a member of  _ fine _ , I am rather weak on my own, yes?” 

“Can it really be so simple?” asks Wataru. “It’d almost be a little bo~ring if that’s all there was, wouldn’t it?” 

“D-Don’t edge him on!” says Kaoru, glaring at Wataru. “This is bad enough!” 

“Hooh? Is it really simple?” Hiiro says. “I suppose it is, but maybe that’s what we’re meant to think!” 

Yuzuru shakes his head. “No, there are no tricks. Though there  _ are _ three more rules that you should pay attention to before we begin.” He holds up one finger. “The first special rule is that, if you bet only one Life and you tie with me, you must Go to War. You are not allowed to Surrender, you see?” 

He holds up a second finger. “The second rule is as follows: Once during the game, after a round but before the beginning of the next, you may Go to War with the teammate that is in First Place, only if you have two or more Lives and are in  _ last place _ . If you score the higher card, you win and get seventy-five percent of their Lives, rounded up. If you lose, you must give half of your remaining Lives to them. If there is a tie, then you both lose half of your Lives, which will be given to me.”

He holds up one more finger, making three. “Finally, once during the game, after a round but before the beginning of the next, if you are in first place, you may Ally with the person in last place and donate forty-percent of your Lives to them, rounded down.” 

“Ah, so that’s what you meant by ‘semi-individually’ earlier...” comments Hiiro. 

“The game will go on until at least one person has lost all of their Lives,” continues Yuzuru, ignoring Hiiro. “The remaining three players will be ranked in terms of Lives, descending: First will win five bonus Lives, Second will win three bonus Lives, and Third will one bonus Life.”

“A game of War within a Game of War,” mutters Wataru. 

“Sora has a question!” Sora raises his hand, too, just like Hiiro. Is it just a kid thing? Though Kaoru supposes he’s not much older than these two... 

“Yes, Harukawa-sama?” 

Sora mulls over the question he wanted to ask in his mind before finally asking. “The others are watching, right?” 

Yuzuru nods. “That’s correct.” He points to the four corners of the room. “There are cameras here, and they have a total view of each and every one of you. They also have a top-down view of the table.” 

Sora nods. “Sora sees! Sora will do his very, very best, then, to make Master~ proud! Even if that means beating up Grand-Master~” 

“Hoho, little Sora-kun is going to beat me up?” Wataru laughs. “I won’t hold back, then~ It will be a fun game, won’t it?” 

“...” Hiiro doesn’t say anything, and neither does Kaoru. Both look kind of sick, but Hiiro finally speaks up. 

“Let’s go, then. Let’s start!” 

Yuzuru bows. “Very well. What is everyone going to bet?” 

Wataru pushes forth three chips, out of nine. Kaoru notices that nine chips sit in front of all of them, except for Yuzuru, who has a whole stack of the house’s chips. Kaoru panics and places a singular chip in front of him. Sora thinks for a second before putting four chips in front, then Hiiro plays it safe like Kaoru, with one. 

“I will deal the cards, then we will flip them at the same time, on my count.” Yuzuru does as he says, and after counting to three, everyone flips their cards. 

Wataru: Queen   
Kaoru: Queen   
Sora: 10   
Hiiro: Ace   
Yuzuru: Jack

Yuzuru claps his hands. “There were no ties. Congratulations to Hibiki-sama, Hakaze-sama, and Amagi-sama, who will win three, one, and one Lives respectively. My apologies to Harukawa-sama, who has lost all four. Hibiki-sama is in the lead.” 

Sora pouts. “Ah~ Sora lost? Well, Sora will try again!!” 

Wataru tuts. “Now, now, Sora-kun, don’t get all worked up. You should play it carefully for awhile, yes?” 

“Mm, but Sora wants to win fast!” 

“You’ll only be losing fast,” says Kaoru. 

“Will Sora? Then Sora will play it safe... but Sora will win big for Master~, okay? Sora will show Grand-Master~!” 

Wataru laughs. “With that cute smile of yours, Sora-kun, there’s nothing you can do that won’t make me lose already!” 

“Shall we begin the next round?” Yuzuru suggests. “Please bet what you would like.” 

Wataru bets four now; Kaoru debates, then bets two. Sora bets only one, while Hiiro bets one as well. After everyone has placed their bets of Lives, Yuzuru deals the cards, and they all flip them at the same time, just like the last round.

Wataru: King   
Kaoru: Queen   
Sora: 10   
Hiiro: Ace   
Yuzuru: Ace

“Our first tie,” says Yuzuru. “As I have drawn the Ace, everyone else but Amagi-sama has lost their bets. Amagi-sama, since you have only bet one, you must Go to War. Do you understand?” 

Hiiro swallows, then he nods, smiling slightly. “Of course. Let us go to war, then!” 

Yuzuru deals the cards to both Hiiro and himself. They flip them over, and reveal two Aces. 

“Oh, my, did I shuffle these right?” Yuzuru jokes, though Hiiro is ecstatic. 

“Hah! That means I won, yes? I  _ extra _ won! Like, double won!” 

Kaoru rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. You did.” 

Sora’s eyes sparkle. “Sora is proud of you! Now, now...” 

_ Life Count  
_ Wataru: 8   
Kaoru: 8   
Sora: 4   
Hiiro: 12

“Sora wants to wage war on Hiiro-chan!” 

“Ehh?!” Hiiro turns to look at him. “What are you talking about? Wage war on me!” 

Sora nods, as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. “Yup! Sora wants to take all your chips and make them his!” 

Yuzuru nods. “Very well. I shall deal the cards.” And he does.

“D-Don’t I get a say in this?” Hiiro spits, appalled. “C’mon! I don’t want to go to war!” 

Sora sticks out his tongue, giving Hiiro an evil eye. “Master~ says that wars are meant to be won, so Sora will win this war!” 

Sora’s card is a Jack, but Hiiro flips over yet another Ace. Sora’s pout is almost immediate. 

“Eh~? Now Sora only has two, right? That’s not fair!” 

“All’s fair in love and war,” mutters Kaoru, leaning his chin on his palm, resting his elbow on the table. He’s finding this rather boring—there’s not a single thrill in this for him. “Or so they say.” 

“My, Sora-kun! You’ve got to take a loss in stride! For instance, you could hit big on the next one, yes?” 

Sora’s pout continues; in fact, it just grows bigger. “Hm~ Sora guesses so! Sora still has some Lives left, so Sora won’t give up!” 

“That’s the spirit!” Wataru encourages him with. 

Hiiro shakes his head, as Yuzuru slides Sora’s two chips over to Hiiro’s pile. “Is this really okay? I mean, he’s losing, right?” 

Yuzuru just smiles, but there’s a special glint in his eyes. Sora turns to Hiiro, reaching over and grabbing at his sleeve. 

“Hey! If you think Sora is losing, then just give Sora some Lives, right? HaHa~” 

“No way! You just tried to steal them and you lost, so now you beg?” 

Sora shakes his head. “No, that’s not it! You’re in first place, so Sora needs some Lives from you, you know?” 

“No! I won’t trust someone like you! I could end up in last place if you try to take my Lives now!” 

Kaoru thinks all this talk is boring. This game is boring. Everything is boring. Even the way Yuzuru confirms that Hiiro won’t Ally with Sora, even the way that Kaoru pushes forth two chips without even thinking of it, even the way Yuzuru slides a new card to each of them... It’s all so boring. 

He feels like it  _ shouldn’t _ be so boring. What’s with him? He looks up at the light, gazing deeply into it. The purple flickers, at least that’s what he thinks. Does it actually? He doesn’t know... It’s like he’s getting sucked into it. 

“...ze-sama... Hakaze-sama... Ha—” 

“Huh?” Kaoru blinks, looking down at Yuzuru, who has been calling his name all this time. Yuzuru is wearing a small, patient smile. The card in front of him has been turned over—a Queen—and there’s a card in front of Kaoru, too, face down. Kaoru glances at the others, how Sora is already lamenting that he’s lost because Hiiro hadn’t given him any lives—a Jack in front of Sora, and a King in front of Hiiro. Wataru has a 10. 

“Hakaze-sama. Please turn over your card,” Yuzuru suggests gently. 

Kaoru blinks again, then he nods slowly, turning it over. His eyes feel glossy, but as he rubs them, there’s nothing there. 

An Ace. 

Yuzuru claps his hands once, a sort of quiet, golf-clap. “Congratulations, Hakaze-sama. Now, as Harukawa-sama has been reduced to zero Lives, let us count up the chip total and address any bonus Lives to be handed out.

“In first place, who had bet three on the last round: Hiiro Amagi-sama, at seventeen. With an additional five chips, you have more than doubled your Life count at twenty-two.

“In second place, who had bet two on the last round: Kaoru Hakaze-sama, at ten. With an additional three chips, you now stand at thirteen Lives.

“In third place, who had bet two chips on the last round: Wataru Hibiki-sama, at six. With an additional chip, you now stand at seven Lives.

“Finally, as said before, Sora Harukawa-sama has zero Lives, and he will be led through the Gates of Hell. It is through these doors that you may escape.” 

“Oi, if that’s the case, why don’t we all just go in?” Kaoru says, incredulous. If it’s that easy, why don’t they all just pry open the doors and leave. 

“HeHe~ So does that mean the key to winning is losing? So Sora won? But Sora will go without Master~... and Grand-Master~ came in third place, too!”

Wataru is silent, but then he speaks up. “Something about this isn’t right, you know? Hm...~ The Gates of Hell will let you escape, is it?” 

“Yes, something is definitely not right,” Hiiro agrees. “Unless it was just a trick, calling it the Gates of Hell so we don’t break down the door and go through...” 

Sora’s already hopped off of the chair, diligently and obediently following Yuzuru to a door to the left of the stairwell. Above it is a comically styled, almost hand-drawn sign; it was dressed up all cutesy, and something heavy settled in the pit of Kaoru’s stomach. 

“... No,” he says, a little belatedly. A little quietly. 

Yuzuru opens the door, and there’s nothing but darkness. 

“HoHo~ is it nighttime already? Sora will be brave for Master~!” Sora takes one step in, obediently, as Yuzuru urges him to do. Sora turns around and waves. “Yuzuru-senpai has a nice color! A kind color, one of Sora’s favorites!” 

Wataru stands up. “Yuzuru, I have to ask you not to close that door~” he says in a sing-song voice, as characteristic of him, though there’s something firm about his tone this time. He twirls a bit of hair around his finger, taking a few cautious steps forward. Kaoru watches, unable to do anything. Yuzuru shuts the door anyway, bowing to Wataru. 

“My apologies, Hibiki-sama.” 

A screen drops down from a hidden compartment in the ceiling, right where the one on the floor below is—where everyone else is watching this entire room on. With a push of another button on Yuzuru’s watch, a lamp hanging from a ceiling lights up the room on the screen. 

The screen shows Sora, looking around, a bit dazed and confused. He’s feeling the smooth walls of the rather small room he’s found himself in, then banging on the door—or what he thinks is the door. Kaoru hears nothing from his end. Just small thumps—nothing like someone actually banging on a door. Wataru approaches the door now, as Sora grows more and more distressed, and Yuzuru presses another button. 

What seems to be water rains from the ceiling, from around the lamp. Sora looks up, shielding his eyes. He starts yelling. 

“Master~ Sora is getting all wet! Master~! Grand-Master~! Are you still out there? Sora is cold! Sora doesn’t like this! This... It looks all bad to Sora!” 

Hiiro is on his feet now, too, and both he and Wataru are clawing at the door, begging it to open. 

The room with Sora in it steadily fills up with water. By the time it’s around his waist, the two finally pry open the door. Kaoru only knows this because Wataru cries out in a fit of desperation, signaling that there’s something else blocking his way to the room that Sora is actually in. Kaoru can’t tear his eyes away from the screen. 

It’s like a train crash. He can’t look away. He can’t. 

Belatedly, he jumps to his feet, as Sora continues to cry out for Natsume and Wataru. 

“Grand-Master is coming, dear!” Wataru screams through the new sliding door that blocks their way. It’s made of thick concrete, but there doesn’t seem to be any leakage. Kaoru slows to a stop next to Wataru, whose fingers are bloodied from attempting to open the cement door. Streaks of blood dot the grey, hellish landscape. 

A quick glance back at the screen shows that there’s not much time left—Sora is floating now, pressing his face to the ceiling. 

“Master~ Mast...” 

He’s swallowed by the water, closing his eyes and dunking his head down. Kaoru can hear banging on the door now—not  _ this _ door, since it’s been revealed that there were possibly several doors, all made of concrete, but one at the top of the stairwell, leading to this room. The door knob jingles, and Sora sloshes around in the water, no more room to breathe. 

“SORA—” Natsume yells through the door. “SORA!” 

Yuzuru watches the screen with an apt expression of horror. But as soon as Kaoru looks at him, it’s replaced with a kind face, one with a small, yet sad, smile. He’s trying to remain neutral, is he? Kaoru glances down at the bracelet on his wrist, which now reads 13 LIVES. 

He can’t willingly kill this bitch just yet. Not when he’s got the tools to kill Kaoru in an instant. At least, so he says... But at this point, Kaoru has no reason to doubt him anymore. He has no reason to doubt this collection of Gambles that use people’s lives as playing chips. 

Sora floats in the water, face down, eyes closed. He doesn’t move. He doesn’t move. He doesn’t  _ move _ . 

This game is no longer boring. 

The lights dim. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The start is a bit slow but hope I'm doing a good job at setting the tone for you all! The tension will be vamped up in future chapters!

**Author's Note:**

> Come hang out with me on twitter: [hktk1059](https://twitter.com/hktk1059)!
> 
> Happy Birthday, Yuzuru, our dear Judge!


End file.
